Heading South...

And here's a brief recap of our last month or so in Central America:

Locked up abroad:  big airline tickets to Little Corn Island

We splurged for our five year anniversary (about ten days early, back in mid July) and flew to Little Corn Island off the coast of Nicaragua, for some Caribbean-style paradise. Little Corn is beautiful and secluded - no cars allowed, and you find your way around the island via a maze of dirt paths, using a headlamp or flashlight at night.     

We made friends with the unofficial mayor of Little Corn: Bush-man.  A mangy mutt and once the island stud, Bush-man is the first victim of the recent spay and neuter clinic that a couple of ex-pats (damn expats think they own the place) started on the island to make it more "civilized". Bush-man made sure that we got home to our bungalow safely each night, and he liked to stand guard during our afternoon hammock time.

master of karate and friendship

view from our cabana

After Little Corn, we headed South to Costa Rica and met back up with our Aussie friends, Nathan and Elly, for a trip to Tortuguero National Park. This was amazing - prime time to see giant Green Turtles crawl out of the sea onto the beach at night, find a nesting spot, lay eggs, bury them and then swim back out to sea. We saw the whole process, up close and personal, and it truly was the most awe inspiring wildlife thing we've ever experienced, with the exception of when Stuntman Mike cleans himself. 

we weren't allowed to take picures of the sea turtles, and I couldn't find one of the Stuntman cleaning himself, but here are two guys chopping coconuts with a machete - almost as awe inspiring.

The park is next to a little rain forest village between the Tortuguero River and the Caribbean (no longer calm  and blue here, quite wavy, choppy and rough like the Atlantic or Pacific). We found a nice little hostel steps away from the beach, and toured the river and nearby canals. Despite the rain that day, we were able to see a Jesus Christ Lizard (can walk on water) some monkeys, a slowsky, and other cool creatures.

more beautiful than Barbie...   Jesus Lizard blending in

prefers dial up

From Tortuguero we traveled by boat, bus, and boat again to our last stop in Costa Rica: Puerto Viejo, a little beach/party town. From there, we crossed the border into Panama and explored Bocas del Toro, Boquete, and Panama City. 

body surfing in Bocas

sloth happily chillaxing

coffee finca in Boquete, Panama

Jules finds our first clue during a scavenger hunt through a cloud forest in Panama 

"I can barely see the road from the heat comin' off..."   midnight in Panama City

model citizens, zero discipline

Julie gets a part-time gig at the Canal

After cooling off in the mountains of Boquete and bouncing around Panama City, we jumped on a five-day catamaran trip to Colombia.  We had 14 passengers and one jack-of-all trades Captain named Gisbert.  Including Gis, we had three Krauts, three Brits, two Aussies, one Kiwi, one Scot and four Norte Americanos.  Everyone had a blast. 

Gisbert at the helm:  captain, crewman, deckhand, first mate, helmsman, seafarer, second mate, skipper, cook and all-around great guy

The cruise was amazing: we sailed from Panama for six hours the first day to the San Blas islands. Absolutely beautiful. The Kuna indians inhabit San Blas and they are autonomous from the Panamanian government, which allows them to preserve their culture. They don't let any non-Kunas buy up any land and they don't marry outside of the group.  

Kuna guy selling fresh lobster

 

After three days anchored near the islands, swimming, snorkeling and kayaking, we sailed for two more.  This was rough, but not as rough as we thought: no puking for us, but lots of sleeping, stumbling around, and some reading. 

Dave dozes off during his shift 

We miss everyone at home, and we will continue to keep you posted on our travels as we move through South America.

Gracias por leerlo!